TV 6’s Vaccination Dilemma, Householder’s Abrupt Departure, the Shopko Property, the Cybersecurity Institute’s Slow Progress, and Thefts in Marquette
The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell
COULD BE AN interesting next couple of weeks at TV6 and Fox UP. The stations’ parent company, Gray Television, recently announced that, starting October 1st, all full and part-time employees will need to be vaccinated… “I can’t comment on that,” says TV6 VP and GM Rick Rhoades. Any resistance to the mandate? Again, no comment.
“We’re not supposed to talk about it,” affirms meteorologist Karl Bohnak. “All we’ve been told is that if we want to keep our jobs, we’ve got to get vaccinated.”…Has he, himself, been vaccinated? No comment.
THE WEATHER SURE turned quickly and sharply on us. Summer one day, Fall the next. Bohnak says that, after an unusually warm summer (4 degrees above average in June and August), indications are that we’ll see an early start to Winter. Something about ocean patterns, and hot and cold pools… “I can say with confidence,” Bohnak says with a laugh, “that there will be more snow this winter than last.” Which isn’t saying much: a mere 38 inches of snow fell along Marquette’s lakeshore last winter.
OH, ONE MORE note about TV6. What the heck happened with Shawn Householder’s abrupt exit from the station? Again, no comment from station management…Householder was a popular anchor and meteorologist who seemed to love the UP, but now he’s back in West Virginia…No “Congratulations, Shawn! Thanks! We’ll miss you!” from the station. Just….he’s gone…Our inquiry to him via Facebook has gone unanswered.
THE OLD SHOPKO property appears to have been sold. That’s according to a report in the Herald Review, a newspaper in Grand Rapids, Minnesota…L and M Fleet Supply, which sells tools, lawn and garden supplies, automotive equipment and home goods, has bought the property (and one in Escanaba, as well), according to the newspaper report.…No date given for the opening…We’re waiting for confirmation of the sale from L and M.
AND WHAT ABOUT the old, vacant Marquette Mall property that thousands of cars pass every day?... “We’re not hearing much about that,” says Dennis Stachewicz, Marquette’s director of community development. “We know that people have come in and kicked the tires and talked about possible plans for the property, but so far, nothing’s come of it.”
THE TWO POWER plants continue to come down, and the city applauds. A cleaner, greener lakeshore…WE Energies, which is dismantling the Presque Isle plant, has given the city the utility’s long stretch of property adjacent to the lake. Presumably, it’ll be preserved for public use…The other, much larger tract of land that WE is leaving? Stachewicz says that the Mackinac Technology Company, out of Kentwood, Michigan, has expressed interest in it. Nothing definite.
THE UPPER PENINSULA Cybersecurity Institute at NMU opened back in 2019 to high expectations. Much-needed training for highly paid jobs! NMU would be the center of it all! The entire UP would benefit!...Well, thanks to the pandemic and other factors, progress has been slower than we might have hoped.
Doug Miller, who took over as director of the Institute last year just before the pandemic hit, tells us that over the last year, they’ve conducted six licensing courses for a total of 32 students. More than half, he says, have gone on to be certified…The numbers seem pretty modest… “We’re trying to figure out how to connect with more people, because the jobs are out there,” Miller says. Seven thousand unfilled cybersecurity jobs in Michigan, alone.
To be fair, the Institute has also conducted important outreach programs to UP schools and small businesses in need of cybersecurity assistance.
STATE REP SARA Cambensy announced over Facebook last weekend that she and some of her neighbors in Marquette had been hit by thieves. Cars and unlocked garages were the target… “It’s a very common crime, unfortunately, even here in Marquette,” says Marquette Police Detective Nate Dawson. “Our best advice is to lock everything.”….No progress reported on finding the thieves.
LOOKING FOR A scenic and challenging bike ride? Try the Heritage Trail from Marquette to Negaunee…10 to 15 miles each way depending on where you start…And then stop for nourishment at either the venerable Midtown Bakery, with a homey, 1950s, Bohemian vibe, or cross the street to the new Campfire Coffee Shop, with a cool, 2021 vibe…Can’t go wrong either way.
AND FINALLY, HOW about the long-awaited start to football season? Huge, cheering crowds! 100,000 at the Big House!!! Woohoo!! Last year, you might recall, we were glumly calling such events “superspreaders.” …But now, since we’ve finally solved that tricky Covid thing, we can……Oh wait—
A FINAL FINALLY…More than half of Michigan’s students have mask mandates. In Marquette, no. It’s optional…And one student at Marquette Senior High School estimates that a meagre 3-5% of the students are wearing the optional masks.
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